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Anti-Catholicism?
One of our favourite BNP Walter Mitty characters, the erudite BNP candidate Alan Girvan from Dewsbury has made some very strange legal claims: that Catholic emancipation in Britain is illegal and it is also illegal for all non-Protestants to hold public office!
If it wasn’t for the sheer and utter strangeness of Alan Girvan’s somewhat nuanced legal pronouncement (God knows what provoked it), under ordinary conditions one would normally be filled with admiration for a chap who attempts to single handily overturn roughly 330 years of continuous law through the medium of a solitary internet posting.
On the Archbishop Cranmer blog, Alan Girvan, posting as ‘cromwell316’, makes the following anti-emancipation argument:
“The Bill of Rights 1689 was not an ordinary act of Parliament it was an act of settlement which actually sets up the legality for the present state and give Parliament its power in the first place. It also clearly states that changes to it, were themselves illegal. The Catholic Relief Act implied (not explicit) repeal of the Bill of Rights so my point being that the Bill of Rights was superceded by an unlawful bill, which emancipated Catholics as long as they swore an Oath (even that Act has been repealed since) so all these individuals who are now determined to break what is by LAW a Protestant Kingdom whether they be Catholic, Muslim, Atheist or even Marxists' are not even lawfully in office”.
Now for those of you who were asleep during GSCE History class, the Catholic Relief Act 1778 (culminating in the Catholic Relief Act 1829) initiated a process in Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the discriminatory restrictions on Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the Penal Laws. However, Alan Girvan argues that the Catholic Relief Acts are illegal and by extension so is the resultant emancipation of Catholics. Seemingly, Alan Girvan wants to turn the clock back and re-inaugurate discriminatory measures that once made Catholics second-class citizens in their own country. Not only this, but from his subterranean perspective, any British person who is a non-Protestant i.e. a Catholic, Orthodox (Christian), Atheist, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, etc. is wilfully breaking the law by holding public office in the United Kingdom! Beat that for logic!
BNP’s tainted image amongst Catholics
In the past, the BNP’s appeal to Ulster Catholics has been undermined by its open association with anti-Catholic and anti-Irish Loyalist terrorist groups. Nor will it help that, for example, John Oddy, when he was the BNP’s north-west Wales organiser, allegedly boasted of killing innocent civilians in northern Ireland whilst as a serving soldier, or that its northern Ireland organiser, Andy McLorie (who recently joined a breakaway BNP faction dedicated to removing the current BNP leader Nick Griffin), was jailed for his participation in a Loyalist bomb attack on a Belfast home. When interviewed by the police over the bomb attack, Andy McLorie allegedly made use of the term ‘Taig’, a racist term used to denigrate Catholics. If it weren’t for the lack of space we would list more incidences of anti-Catholic sectarianism and anti-Irish racism committed by BNP members (perhaps to be covered in a separate article).
One can’t help but feel that Alan Girvan is motivated by an antiquated sectarian antipathy towards especially Catholics. After all, why the need to specifically doubt the legal freedoms of Catholics, freedoms that are benignly enjoyed by the rest of us? I thought that the BNP was supposed to be concentrating on attacking Muslims (codeword for ‘Asians’) as its current choice of hapless victim. Alan Girvan’s views on Catholic emancipation can only embarrass and impede the BNP’s efforts to cultivate support amongst Catholics in northern Ireland (as well as damage its image amongst Catholics on the mainland).
The strange world of Alan Girvan
Alan Girvan is one of many BNP members who, despite their opposition to the anti-fascist movement, periodically takes to posting on anti-fascist sites. Quite recently Alan Girvan indulged us with a posting on the anti-fascist blog, Kirklees Unity, attacking the pro-Nick Griffin wing of the BNP as “malevolent”. This was Alan Girvan expressing this support for Colin Auty, the BNP councillor from Kirklees, in his attempt to displace Nick Griffin as leader of the BNP. But, what was most strange was Alan Girvan’s claim in his posting that his is an “ex-BNP member since Jan 2008”. Seizing on this, Kirklees Unity pointed out the following to Alan Girvan: “Please explain why you still felt the need to stand as a BNP candidate in a winnable seat if you had quit the party back in January?”
Kirklees Unity is 100% correct. In the recent May 2008 local council elections Alan Girvan stood as the BNP’s candidate in the Dewsbury East ward. Strange. Even stranger was Alan Girvan’s claim several years ago, when he stood as an independent candidate in Dewsbury, that he was being manipulated by larger forces as part of some grand anti-BNP conspiracy!
But, what was perhaps Alan Girvan’s finest Walter Mitty moment was his claims to the Yorkshire Post newspaper that he was a “former advisor to American president George W Bush”! How the mighty have fallen, going from having the ear of the world’s most powerful man to being a lowly BNP underling in Dewsbury.
Nor has Alan Girvan had much luck of late in either of his BNP or romantic endeavours! Earlier on in May 2008, Alan Girvan was caught out breaching copyright laws when he used images from the TV show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in his BNP literature. At the time, 2waytraffic, the company that owns the copyright to the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? images threatened Alan Girvan with legal action unless the BNP leaflets were withdrawn from circulation.
Shortly before that, Alan Girvan failed in his BNP legal bid to have postal voting banned in Kirklees. Naturally, the court resisted the BNP’s anti-democratic bid and awarded costs against Alan Girvan (if Alan Girvan truly cares about democracy, then he should launch a court case trying to ban BNP candidates registered at fake addresses from standing for election or to have the BNP’s ban on its members joining certain political parties lifted).
Though we understand from rumours that Alan Girvan is currently dating a stripper, we hope that this means Alan Girvan is no longer posting ‘adult’ adverts on various internet dating sites or on popular sites such as FaceParty (quite popular with certain senior BNP officials and their swinger sex parties). We feel that despite his divorce and his dating a stripper, Alan Girvan very much exemplifies the BNP’s much touted family values.
Lastly, we’re contemplating holding a whip-round for hapless old Alan - it seems he’s having difficulty paying his TV licence. I recently came across Alan Girvan complaining on a yahoo forum about having to purchase a TV license and asking fellow contributors on ways he could get round having to buy one! Sorry, Alan but we’ve all got to have one.
Anyway, below are some links for those of you who are interested in learning more about BNP candidate Alan Girvan:
http://lancasteruaf.blogspot.com/2008/05/bnp-in-hot-water-over-millionaire.html
http://norfolkunity.blogspot.com/2008/03/bnps-alan-girvan-suitable-case-for.html
http://lancasteruaf.blogspot.com/2008/03/have-you-heard-one-about.html
http://lancasteruaf.blogspot.com/2008/03/bnp-fail-in-bid-to-stop-postal-votes.html?showComment=1206816720000
http://kirkunity.blogspot.com/2007/03/only-lonely-its-alan-girvan.html
http://kirkunity.blogspot.com/2008/03/is-girvan-unhinged.html
http://kirkunity.blogspot.com/2008/03/now-here-is-good-one.html
http://kirkunity.blogspot.com/2008/04/its-quiz-time.html
¡No Pasarán!
Please Note: Not long after we published the article, we were contacted by a source claiming to have recently left the BNP.
We understand from the source, who is currently either inside the BNP or very close to some of the BNP's Kirklees councillors, that Alan Girvan denies being involved in Colin Auty's campaign to replace Nick Griffin as BNP leader. This is despite Colin Auty's campaign site listing Alan Girvan as an official supporter. Based on this information, perhaps Alan Girvan should request that Colin Auty remove his name from the site (we also understand from the source that some BNP members from the pro-Griffin wing in Kirkless/Dewsbury are under the impression that Alan Girvan is working for Colin Auty's campaign. They may be wrong, they may be right).
We also understand from that source that Alan Girvan has, at least privately, recently denounced the BNP or at least some of its members as "racists" and "bigots". Interesting. Took him a long time to figure that out.
We also seem to be getting close to resolving Alan Girvan's claim that he left the BNP in January 2008 despite subsequently standing as a BNP candidate in May 2008. According to our source, it was in fact Colin Auty who personally requested Alan Girvan to stand as a BNP candidate so that if Alan Girvan was elected, Colin Auty would gain another ally in Kirklees. Our only concern is that Colin Auty may have broken BNP rules over putting up a non-BNP member/someone who recently left the BNP as a BNP candidate.
We want to thank our secret source whom we only refer to by the codename 'Walter Mitty'. You know who you are.
May 26, 2008
May 25, 2008
Thousands protest in German town against neo-Nazi party meeting
Up to 4,000 demonstrators on Saturday protested against a congress of the minority neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD), saying there was no place in this Bavarian town for Nazis. A large police turnout prevented incidents after it was feared there could be clashes with left-wing extremists. A police spokesman said only 10 people were briefly detained Saturday.
Various local associations and several mainstream political parties had called for a major demonstration against the NPD congress with the slogan: "Bamberg is multi-colored, not brown." Under Nazism in Germany, brown was the color of Nazi stormtroopers' uniforms, and the color is still associated in German minds with the Nazis.
Shops in the historic centre of this ancient town carried placards in their windows with slogans such as: "Defend democracy, there is no place here for Nazis." Meanwhile some 300 NPD delegates assembled in a concert hall for their two-day meeting.
After the failure of attempts to get the courts to ban the congress, the civic authorities were obliged to permit the rental of the hall by the NPD. A fringe group with only 7,300 members, the NPD is the most radical of the extreme right-wing parties in Germany with a policy which is openly anti-foreigner, racist and anti-Semitic.
It has no deputies in the Bundestag, Germany's federal lower house in Berlin. But it does have deputies in two regional parliaments, in Saxony and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, both in former East Germany, where there is a high unemployment rate.
Although the media were officially allowed for the first time to attend all debates at an NPD congress, several German journalists were refused any access at all to the hall Saturday. They included a team from the main television channel ARD.
ABS/CBN
Various local associations and several mainstream political parties had called for a major demonstration against the NPD congress with the slogan: "Bamberg is multi-colored, not brown." Under Nazism in Germany, brown was the color of Nazi stormtroopers' uniforms, and the color is still associated in German minds with the Nazis.
Shops in the historic centre of this ancient town carried placards in their windows with slogans such as: "Defend democracy, there is no place here for Nazis." Meanwhile some 300 NPD delegates assembled in a concert hall for their two-day meeting.
After the failure of attempts to get the courts to ban the congress, the civic authorities were obliged to permit the rental of the hall by the NPD. A fringe group with only 7,300 members, the NPD is the most radical of the extreme right-wing parties in Germany with a policy which is openly anti-foreigner, racist and anti-Semitic.
It has no deputies in the Bundestag, Germany's federal lower house in Berlin. But it does have deputies in two regional parliaments, in Saxony and Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, both in former East Germany, where there is a high unemployment rate.
Although the media were officially allowed for the first time to attend all debates at an NPD congress, several German journalists were refused any access at all to the hall Saturday. They included a team from the main television channel ARD.
ABS/CBN
Nazi church seeks future as bulwark against fascism
A rundown Protestant church built to glorify Hitler's Third Reich is hoping for a new lease of life as a memorial against Nazi oppression. The place of worship in southern Berlin is a unique example of the Protestant Church's adoption of Nazi propaganda, with furnishings rich in symbolism favoured by the dictatorship.
From the entrance hall chandelier shaped like an iron cross military medal to the wooden carving of a Wehrmacht soldier on the pulpit standing on the right-hand side of Jesus, the atmosphere is heavy with reminders of Hitler's rule.
The brown-brick church that once reverberated to the swell of Nazi anthems badly needs repairs. This week, the parish launched a bid to secure fresh investment to rescue the building completed in 1935, two years after the Fuehrer took power.
"The building shows how such a murderous ideology could infest itself in a 'normal' society," said local pastor Hans-Martin Brehm.
"I think every generation risks doing terrible things if it's not mindful of the past," he said.
Brehm estimates the building, which is no longer used for regular services, needs 3.5 million euros (2.79 million pounds).
"If nothing's done, it's going to collapse," he said.
Brehm wants the Martin Luther Memorial Church to become a place of remembrance that is used for regular cultural events, not a museum that he says would render it a "dead stone" relic. Authorities appear sympathetic to the church's plight.
Given the building's link to the Nazi era, it is a strong candidate for public funding, said Anna Maria Odenthal at Berlin's office for the conservation of historical monuments.
The building's origins go back to the anti-Semitic Deutsche Christen (German Christian) movement which claimed to have hundreds of thousands of Protestant members by the mid-1930s. A study by historian Manfred Gailus calculated that about a quarter of Berlin's Protestant parishes were run by pro-Nazi clergy, with many others acquiescent.
Towering over the church's chancel is a "victory arch" of tiles decorated with images that alternate from traditional Christian symbols to the blank faces of helmeted soldiers and Nazi stormtroopers from the brown-shirted Sturmabteilung (SA).
According to locals, an image of Protestant reformer Martin Luther inset in the wall of the entrance hall was replaced by Hitler's face. Luther's likeness has since returned. Swastikas that once adorned the church have also been removed. The Nazi symbol is banned in modern Germany. But many other reminders of the period remain. On a raised platform above the entrance is an organ first played at the Nuremberg Nazi party rally of 1935 -- where anti-Semitic race laws where passed.
Yet despite its purpose-built design, the church has never become a shrine to neo-Nazis, nor was it a shining example of obedience to Hitler's regime, said Brehm, 55.
"The parish rejected all the mass baptisms and uniformed parades, apart from when they were officially prescribed. They went on in the neighbouring churches," he said.
Just weeks after the infamous Jewish pogrom in November 1938 "Reichskristallnacht" (Night of Breaking Glass), the local pastor wed a Jewish woman to an "Aryan" German in the church.
"That was strictly forbidden then," said Brehm.
Reuters
From the entrance hall chandelier shaped like an iron cross military medal to the wooden carving of a Wehrmacht soldier on the pulpit standing on the right-hand side of Jesus, the atmosphere is heavy with reminders of Hitler's rule.
The brown-brick church that once reverberated to the swell of Nazi anthems badly needs repairs. This week, the parish launched a bid to secure fresh investment to rescue the building completed in 1935, two years after the Fuehrer took power.
"The building shows how such a murderous ideology could infest itself in a 'normal' society," said local pastor Hans-Martin Brehm.
"I think every generation risks doing terrible things if it's not mindful of the past," he said.
Brehm estimates the building, which is no longer used for regular services, needs 3.5 million euros (2.79 million pounds).
"If nothing's done, it's going to collapse," he said.
Brehm wants the Martin Luther Memorial Church to become a place of remembrance that is used for regular cultural events, not a museum that he says would render it a "dead stone" relic. Authorities appear sympathetic to the church's plight.
Given the building's link to the Nazi era, it is a strong candidate for public funding, said Anna Maria Odenthal at Berlin's office for the conservation of historical monuments.
The building's origins go back to the anti-Semitic Deutsche Christen (German Christian) movement which claimed to have hundreds of thousands of Protestant members by the mid-1930s. A study by historian Manfred Gailus calculated that about a quarter of Berlin's Protestant parishes were run by pro-Nazi clergy, with many others acquiescent.
Towering over the church's chancel is a "victory arch" of tiles decorated with images that alternate from traditional Christian symbols to the blank faces of helmeted soldiers and Nazi stormtroopers from the brown-shirted Sturmabteilung (SA).
According to locals, an image of Protestant reformer Martin Luther inset in the wall of the entrance hall was replaced by Hitler's face. Luther's likeness has since returned. Swastikas that once adorned the church have also been removed. The Nazi symbol is banned in modern Germany. But many other reminders of the period remain. On a raised platform above the entrance is an organ first played at the Nuremberg Nazi party rally of 1935 -- where anti-Semitic race laws where passed.
Yet despite its purpose-built design, the church has never become a shrine to neo-Nazis, nor was it a shining example of obedience to Hitler's regime, said Brehm, 55.
"The parish rejected all the mass baptisms and uniformed parades, apart from when they were officially prescribed. They went on in the neighbouring churches," he said.
Just weeks after the infamous Jewish pogrom in November 1938 "Reichskristallnacht" (Night of Breaking Glass), the local pastor wed a Jewish woman to an "Aryan" German in the church.
"That was strictly forbidden then," said Brehm.
Reuters
Labels:
church,
Hitler,
nazi,
Third Reich,
Wehrmacht
May 24, 2008
Auty leadership campaign in rapid decline
Making a bid for the leadership of the British National Party is no easy matter. An ordinary member is required to have five years uninterrupted membership, has to obtain one hundred signatures from supporters (as opposed to a present officer who only needs ten signatures), is banned (or at least discouraged) from attending meetings to proselytize for him/her self and faces a barrage of criticism, accusation and misinformation, while the current leader Nick Griffin attends all the meetings he can and lays the propaganda on with a trowel himself and via his minions.Not altogether surprising then, that the Colin Auty leadership challenge is in trouble. The major purge of members that took place after last year's leadership challenge is clearly making the membership wary of signing for Auty - a tacit admission that they are unhappy with the current leader. There have also been strong hints that if this challenge goes ahead, Nick Griffin will make it his business (with the help of an impotent and pointless Advisory Council) to change the system so that a challenge can only be made once every four or five years - a rumour that horrifies the dissidents within the party who have managed to persuade Auty to make the challenge in a doubtless vain attempt to see the former rebels reinstated and a few of the older members returning to the fold.
Although the result of the challenge last year was lauded as a mandate for Nick Griffin to continue his role as party dictator, it was clear that only 39% of the party membership had voted for him. Spin that as you will, 39% does not make a mandate. Nevertheless, Griffin's leadership was made more secure, and despite continually mediocre election results (just ten new councillors at the recent elections as opposed to the BNP predictions of forty) and with conditions as near-perfect as the BNP could hope, his position remains internally unassailable.
And unassailable it will remain, if Griffin and his acolytes have anything to do with it. Since rumours of Auty's challenge have emerged, the dirty tricks department of the BNP has been on overtime. Lee Barnes, the party's insane legal beagle, dashed out a letter to the membership as soon as the news became public, attacking Auty as being a 'puupet' for the machinations of the December rebel's group (or Voice of Change, as they call themselves). Certainly, they have openly given their backing to Auty though, as time passes, rumours of fragmentation reach us. Indeed, it was announced only yesterday that Steve Blake, one of the key rebels, has decided not to support Auty's challenge after all. Others, it seems, are following his example. Chris Beverly, former Griffin blue-eyed boy, has also backed off following pressure from above.
Barnes' letter was swiftly followed by another, this time from the party's National Elections Officer, Eddy Butler. Butler, like Barnes, made no bones about his contempt for the challenger:
'But the backers of this ridiculous bid should reconsider their aimless tactic. People should refuse to sign the nomination papers. It is a distraction and a waste of time and effort and it will end up almost certainly with the constitution changed in a way that destroys the important Right of the possibility of a yearly election. Standing a no-hoper is stupid, mindless and fatally undermines our Constitution. It is a pitiful and moronic – a bankrupt tactic by people who can only be described as having gone giddy to the extent that they are now without the imagination to think how they can raise issues in a legitimate way.
This election, if it goes ahead, should be carried out in the most rapid manner possible with zero publicity allowed for the joke candidate...'
We're told that the party has banned ALL discussion on the Auty challenge on its own forum, thus stifling the possibility of dissent and avoiding giving Auty the opportunity of presenting the reasons for his opposition to Griffin. Stormfront, the playground of the many nazis within the BNP, has been awash with anti-Auty propaganda - much of it instigated by a character calling himself 'Walk towards the light' (Lee Barnes), and other far-right forums are being flooded with anti-Auty propaganda.
Rumour also reaches us that branches have been warned via regional organisers that Auty is not to be allowed a platform under any circumstances. Apart from stopping him speaking on his own behalf (while Nick Griffin zooms up and down the country attending meetings with his entourage at the expense of the membership) this is putting a severe dent in Auty's musical career, such as it is. Auty, the BNP's answer to Keith Richards, was apparently booked to play his rubbishy songs at several branches over the coming few weeks. These have now, we're told, put him on hold. Whether this is because he is challenging Griffin or simply because he's crap, we don't know.
Insults aside, it has been reported that when Auty loses (as he certainly will if the challenge goes ahead) he will be kicked out of the party, as will his supporters. His campaign manager, Roger Robertson, the BNP's former South-East Regional Organiser, has already been told that he faces a disciplinary tribunal on July 6th.
Furthermore, there is another aspect of this leadership challenge that needs to be watched. Griffin has let slip that he is sick of being challenged - using the pretext that it interferes with election planning and electioneering - and that he intends to begin the process to have challenges limited to four or five-yearly as soon as humanly possible. Even less democracy in the BNP - that least democratic of political parties.
Auty's career is in decline and will end with his failure to become party leader. Like Chris Jackson last year, Auty will, if the challenge is allowed to go ahead and he manages to get enough signatures, only have three weeks to campaign. But to whom will he campaign? Griffin, we are told, is refusing to allow Auty access to the membership list on the dubious grounds that such access would breach the Data Protection Act. This effectively kills Auty's ability to reach out to the members who might possibly give him their vote if they know of his existence. A devious and surprisingly clever move by Griffin though the Data Protection Act doesn't seem to have stopped the Barnes and Butler letters being sent out to the entire membership. Interesting how rules can be bent, isn't it.
There is one further complication for Auty that will do him no good at all; the rumour that Chris Jackson intends to stand again. If this is true, the opposition to Griffin will have two people on which to pin their single vote, thus ensuring that neither of them get any respectable numbers in the ballot. This second attempt by Jackson will do nothing for anyone except Nick Griffin, and it has become clear that Jackson is generally regarded as a stalking horse, used last year to flush out the malcontents within the party so that they could be entertainingly purged and used this year to split the vote, thus ensuring Auty's failure, and to prop up Griffin's position in the party.
Open support for Auty is, to say the least, sparse. Just twenty-three members appear on his site under the banner 'We're proudly (and openly) backing the challenge!'. Of these, seven are suspended members, one has had his membership renewal rejected, two are about to be kicked out and Auty's position is itself looking increasingly precarious. If Griffin has his way, this leadership challenge will collapse before it properly gets started. Even if he doesn't, Auty will lose and Griffin will get the security of four or five-yearly terms in office. Either way, Auty's career with the British National Party is over because he had, in Eddy Butler's curious phrase, the 'temerity' to wish to stand for the leadership of the BNP.
Muslim cleared of murdering BNP man
A Muslim elder who stabbed his neighbour in the back was dramatically cleared of murder yesterday after a court was told that he had endured a living hell of racism, threats and violence. Habib Khan, 50, of Stoke-on-Trent, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Keith Brown, 52, a BNP activist and an alleged friend of the BNP leader, Nick Griffin, who attended his funeral.
Khan killed Mr Brown last July after finding him in a struggle with his 24-year-old son, Azir. He said he thought that Mr Brown was going to kill Azir and claimed that Mr Brown fell on to a knife he was holding at his back.
Stafford Crown Court was told that Mr Brown, an unemployed father of seven with a long criminal record, began a frightening campaign of intimidation, violence and racial abuse against the Khan family after objecting to his neighbour building a grand house next to his own modest home. A few months before the stabbing, Mr Brown’s son, Ashley Barker, 20, was convicted of assaulting Khan. He hit him repeatedly on the head with a metal object on his wrist.
The court was told that Mr Brown had been jailed in his youth for wounding with intent and that his most recent conviction was in 2000 for assault. Khan, on the other hand, was a pillar of his local mosque.
Prosecuting authorities were accused in court of repeatedly failing to sustain convictions against Mr Brown and Mr Barker, both BNP activists, described by the defence as “the neighbours from hell”.
During the construction of Khan’s house, Mr Brown and Mr Barker took sledgehammers to the walls. Mr Brown was convicted of criminal damage but appealed. When the prosecution failed to warn any witnesses about the appeal hearing, a judge overturned the conviction.
After the Khan house was built, Mr Brown and Mr Barker kept up with their persecution of the family, once shouting “Paki b******s” at Khan and his wife in their garden and threatening to kill them. The police were called but Khan withdrew his complaint in the hope of seeking mediation. Next Mr Brown smashed the windows of the Khans’ conservatory. Khan complained to the police. Mr Brown and Mr Barker were charged with racially aggravated harassment but the prosecution dropped the case. “How would you feel discovering the prosecuting authorities had simply failed you?” Simon Drew, Khan’s lawyer, said. After Mr Barker was arrested and bailed for his attack on Khan last year, he returned immediately to Khan’s home and threw a stone at the bedroom window. He then shouted: “You are dead.” Mr Barker was charged with witness intimidation but that accusation was dropped after he pleaded guilty to assault.
Mr Drew said: “It was pure intimidation. It was nothing else. It was vile, hostile bullying.” On the afternoon of the stabbing, Khan was alerted by one his daughters that Mr Brown was trying to kill Azir by squeezing his neck.
Khan grabbed a sharp 10in kitchen knife, leapt over the garden fence and rushed to Mr Brown. He said Mr Brown mouthed that he would kill Azir. Khan said that he touched Mr Brown’s back so that he would feel the blade but Mr Brown fell back on to it.
Mr Barker, who had gone to join the fight, was left with holes in his head after allegedly being hit by a brick by Khan’s sons. The jury has so far been unable to reach verdicts on charges that Khan and Azir wounded Mr Barker. The judge adjourned the case until Wednesday. Khazir Habib Saddique has admitted wounding Mr Barker.
Times Online
Khan killed Mr Brown last July after finding him in a struggle with his 24-year-old son, Azir. He said he thought that Mr Brown was going to kill Azir and claimed that Mr Brown fell on to a knife he was holding at his back.
Stafford Crown Court was told that Mr Brown, an unemployed father of seven with a long criminal record, began a frightening campaign of intimidation, violence and racial abuse against the Khan family after objecting to his neighbour building a grand house next to his own modest home. A few months before the stabbing, Mr Brown’s son, Ashley Barker, 20, was convicted of assaulting Khan. He hit him repeatedly on the head with a metal object on his wrist.
The court was told that Mr Brown had been jailed in his youth for wounding with intent and that his most recent conviction was in 2000 for assault. Khan, on the other hand, was a pillar of his local mosque.
Prosecuting authorities were accused in court of repeatedly failing to sustain convictions against Mr Brown and Mr Barker, both BNP activists, described by the defence as “the neighbours from hell”.
During the construction of Khan’s house, Mr Brown and Mr Barker took sledgehammers to the walls. Mr Brown was convicted of criminal damage but appealed. When the prosecution failed to warn any witnesses about the appeal hearing, a judge overturned the conviction.
After the Khan house was built, Mr Brown and Mr Barker kept up with their persecution of the family, once shouting “Paki b******s” at Khan and his wife in their garden and threatening to kill them. The police were called but Khan withdrew his complaint in the hope of seeking mediation. Next Mr Brown smashed the windows of the Khans’ conservatory. Khan complained to the police. Mr Brown and Mr Barker were charged with racially aggravated harassment but the prosecution dropped the case. “How would you feel discovering the prosecuting authorities had simply failed you?” Simon Drew, Khan’s lawyer, said. After Mr Barker was arrested and bailed for his attack on Khan last year, he returned immediately to Khan’s home and threw a stone at the bedroom window. He then shouted: “You are dead.” Mr Barker was charged with witness intimidation but that accusation was dropped after he pleaded guilty to assault.
Mr Drew said: “It was pure intimidation. It was nothing else. It was vile, hostile bullying.” On the afternoon of the stabbing, Khan was alerted by one his daughters that Mr Brown was trying to kill Azir by squeezing his neck.
Khan grabbed a sharp 10in kitchen knife, leapt over the garden fence and rushed to Mr Brown. He said Mr Brown mouthed that he would kill Azir. Khan said that he touched Mr Brown’s back so that he would feel the blade but Mr Brown fell back on to it.
Mr Barker, who had gone to join the fight, was left with holes in his head after allegedly being hit by a brick by Khan’s sons. The jury has so far been unable to reach verdicts on charges that Khan and Azir wounded Mr Barker. The judge adjourned the case until Wednesday. Khazir Habib Saddique has admitted wounding Mr Barker.
Times Online
Labels:
BNP,
Habib Khan,
Keith Brown,
manslaughter,
Nick Griffin
Holocaust exhibition for children
A new exhibition about the Holocaust designed for children as young as nine was announced by Schools Secretary Ed Balls.
The permanent exhibition at the Holocaust Centre near Laxton in Nottinghamshire will open in September and primary school children will be able to talk to survivors of the concentration camps. Mr Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, toured the centre, visiting the nine rooms where the exhibition will go on display.
He said: "I think it is a really brilliant centre and I am really looking forward to coming back and seeing the exhibition open. This is really relevant to our society today - whether we have the British National Party and racism in our society or whether we have genocide in parts of Africa. It's important to educate young people that the strength of our society and the values we hold will prevent the repetition of these events."
During his visit Mr Balls met Bela Rosenthal, one of about 50 Holocaust survivors who will volunteer to speak to children when they visit the exhibition.
It has been entitled The Journey and tells the story of a fictional Jewish child as he lives through Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. But unlike the main display currently at the centre, it does not include detailed material or artefacts from the concentration camps and their gas chambers.
Ms Rosenthal's mother, father and grandmother all died in concentration camps during World War Two. She was liberated in 1945 as a three-year-old from the Theresienstadt camp in Czechoslovakia and flown to live in England, where she was later adopted.
Press Association
The permanent exhibition at the Holocaust Centre near Laxton in Nottinghamshire will open in September and primary school children will be able to talk to survivors of the concentration camps. Mr Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, toured the centre, visiting the nine rooms where the exhibition will go on display.
He said: "I think it is a really brilliant centre and I am really looking forward to coming back and seeing the exhibition open. This is really relevant to our society today - whether we have the British National Party and racism in our society or whether we have genocide in parts of Africa. It's important to educate young people that the strength of our society and the values we hold will prevent the repetition of these events."
During his visit Mr Balls met Bela Rosenthal, one of about 50 Holocaust survivors who will volunteer to speak to children when they visit the exhibition.
It has been entitled The Journey and tells the story of a fictional Jewish child as he lives through Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. But unlike the main display currently at the centre, it does not include detailed material or artefacts from the concentration camps and their gas chambers.
Ms Rosenthal's mother, father and grandmother all died in concentration camps during World War Two. She was liberated in 1945 as a three-year-old from the Theresienstadt camp in Czechoslovakia and flown to live in England, where she was later adopted.
Press Association
Labels:
Ed Balls,
Holocaust,
Holocaust Centre,
Laxton
May 23, 2008
He loves to drink-and-drive, but hates ‘Pakis’ and ‘Kikes’: BNP candidate Malcolm Doughty bears his soul
This article was submitted by one of our readers, Hexapla. We welcome any contributions from our supporters (as long as those contributions conform to the law and are in reasonably good taste). Please send your articles to us via email.
Please Note: not long after we published the article, none other than Malcolm Doughty himself, our BNP mascot of the week, posted to congratulate us on our article about him. As we understand, he's very pleased with the article. Anyway, here's Malcolm Doughty's comment:
'Not a bad write-up, and pretty accurate too, well, with a few embelishments along the way. but that's only to be expected!! The only mistake made is that 'malc' on the c.u.n.t.s site IS NOT ME! And neither is that my style of writing, as you'll see if you search deeper on the forums that I do use!! Happy hunting.
Other than that, well, a good piece of digging....well done. It's a shame that the only stuff you managed to put together has been scavenged from PUBLIC forums, which anyone can read anyway.
Oh well, never let the truth get in the way of a 'good?' article eh?
Regards.
Malcolm Doughty.'
We thank Malcolm Doughty for informing us that he's not 'malc' on the irreparably insane BNP attack blog Covert Undercover Nuisance Tactics ("C.U.N.T.S"). We've duly edited the article to remove any reference to 'malc' and C.U.N.T.S.
Bigmal
In the recent local elections, BNP candidate Malcolm Doughty, or as he prefers to call himself ‘Bigmal’ (his online alter-ego), came third with 10.79% of the vote in the ward of Kings Norton, Birmingham. Though this is an unremarkable result for an unremarkable person standing for an unremarkable party, Malcolm Doughty is nevertheless an interesting character (of sorts).
Despite a penchant for curries, an enthusiasm for second-hand Jaguar cars and an undying reverence for the music of Meatloaf (could one accurately describe Malcolm Doughty as ‘like a bat out of hell’? Discuss.), Malcolm Doughty was nevertheless kind enough to drag his knuckles across the floor of the neo-nazi chat forum Stormfront (number one passtime for any self-respecting hardcore BNP member).
Malcolm Doughty often pops up on the forums of the excellent Birmingham-based news site The Stirrer, (run by Jewish journalist Adrian Goldberg) to tell us that it is in our best interests if we all self-lobotomise and submit to a BNP government. However, Malcolm Doughty keeps a cap on his explicit racism and anti-Jewish prejudices whilst posting on The Stirrer. Obviously, he doesn’t want to get banned from such an important forum (but, that doesn’t prevent other posters from making fun out of Malcolm Doughty’s stupidity and lack of a sense of humour – see the following discussion thread). It’s only when in the relatively safe confines of Stormfront does Malcolm Doughty reveal his true fascist and racist character.
Drink before you think: Malcolm Doughty boasts about escaping a breathalyser test
Not only does Malcolm Doughty drink before he thinks, but he also types before he thinks to boast about his drink-driving to his fellow BNP members on Stormfront (aka Scumfront). Posting under his nom de plume ‘Bigmal’ under a thread entitled ‘Re: Illegal Number Plates’, Malcolm Doughty makes the following boastful admission:
“I got stopped in a spot check a few weeks ago.
I was not wearing my belt, my plates are slightly italic, and I'd had two pints at dinner!
Breathalyser passed ok, comments made about plates and to change them, and that was it...No fine or points at all!
makes me wonder why they were stopping people anyway, as they could have given me a fixed penalty and points for no belt”.
Link
You geezer Malcolm, what are you like! Malcolm Doughty’s actions are without doubt legally and morally reprehensible. What compounds his irresponsible attitude to the safety of his fellow drivers and pedestrians is his unrepentant boasting of his actions on what is more or less a public forum.
Asians are ‘Pakis’ and Jews are ‘Kikes’, especially if they run The Stirrer
Referring to Adrian Goldberg as a ‘kike’ over his article for The Stirrer on a Birmingham BNP meeting held earlier on in the year, Malcolm Doughty makes the following racist statement:
“NOT REDS! just paki youths wound up by a kike reporter!”
Link
So, Malcolm Doughty is quite clear on his racial taxonomies: Asians are ‘pakis’ and Jews are ‘kikes’. Hmmm...sounds like unreconstructed racism and anti-Semitism to me. But, then again this is a BNP member and is to be expected.
Criticism of senior BNP officials
Malcolm Doughty doesn’t hold back in his vocal criticism of senior BNP officials such as Mark Collett, Dave Hannam and Simon Darby, dubbing them as “lazy gits just enjoy the publicity and self-promotion”.
Link
He even goes to the extent of singling out Simon Darby for blame over what he considers to be Adrian Goldberg’s adverse article on the Birmingham BNP meeting.
Link
Bigmal has a big mouth
Mechanic by day, Aryan jihadi by night, Malcolm Doughty isn’t the brightest bean in the BNP crowd, quite evident from his above comments and statements. His obtuse racism and politics is plain for all to see. But, perhaps in his little hermetically-sealed BNP world it all makes sense for Malcolm Doughty. It always does. One thing is quite clear though: Bigmal has a big mouth, otherwise we wouldn’t be writing about him! ¡No Pasarán!
Please Note: not long after we published the article, none other than Malcolm Doughty himself, our BNP mascot of the week, posted to congratulate us on our article about him. As we understand, he's very pleased with the article. Anyway, here's Malcolm Doughty's comment:
'Not a bad write-up, and pretty accurate too, well, with a few embelishments along the way. but that's only to be expected!! The only mistake made is that 'malc' on the c.u.n.t.s site IS NOT ME! And neither is that my style of writing, as you'll see if you search deeper on the forums that I do use!! Happy hunting.
Other than that, well, a good piece of digging....well done. It's a shame that the only stuff you managed to put together has been scavenged from PUBLIC forums, which anyone can read anyway.
Oh well, never let the truth get in the way of a 'good?' article eh?
Regards.
Malcolm Doughty.'
We thank Malcolm Doughty for informing us that he's not 'malc' on the irreparably insane BNP attack blog Covert Undercover Nuisance Tactics ("C.U.N.T.S"). We've duly edited the article to remove any reference to 'malc' and C.U.N.T.S.
Bigmal
In the recent local elections, BNP candidate Malcolm Doughty, or as he prefers to call himself ‘Bigmal’ (his online alter-ego), came third with 10.79% of the vote in the ward of Kings Norton, Birmingham. Though this is an unremarkable result for an unremarkable person standing for an unremarkable party, Malcolm Doughty is nevertheless an interesting character (of sorts).
Despite a penchant for curries, an enthusiasm for second-hand Jaguar cars and an undying reverence for the music of Meatloaf (could one accurately describe Malcolm Doughty as ‘like a bat out of hell’? Discuss.), Malcolm Doughty was nevertheless kind enough to drag his knuckles across the floor of the neo-nazi chat forum Stormfront (number one passtime for any self-respecting hardcore BNP member).
Malcolm Doughty often pops up on the forums of the excellent Birmingham-based news site The Stirrer, (run by Jewish journalist Adrian Goldberg) to tell us that it is in our best interests if we all self-lobotomise and submit to a BNP government. However, Malcolm Doughty keeps a cap on his explicit racism and anti-Jewish prejudices whilst posting on The Stirrer. Obviously, he doesn’t want to get banned from such an important forum (but, that doesn’t prevent other posters from making fun out of Malcolm Doughty’s stupidity and lack of a sense of humour – see the following discussion thread). It’s only when in the relatively safe confines of Stormfront does Malcolm Doughty reveal his true fascist and racist character.
Drink before you think: Malcolm Doughty boasts about escaping a breathalyser test
Not only does Malcolm Doughty drink before he thinks, but he also types before he thinks to boast about his drink-driving to his fellow BNP members on Stormfront (aka Scumfront). Posting under his nom de plume ‘Bigmal’ under a thread entitled ‘Re: Illegal Number Plates’, Malcolm Doughty makes the following boastful admission:
“I got stopped in a spot check a few weeks ago.
I was not wearing my belt, my plates are slightly italic, and I'd had two pints at dinner!
Breathalyser passed ok, comments made about plates and to change them, and that was it...No fine or points at all!
makes me wonder why they were stopping people anyway, as they could have given me a fixed penalty and points for no belt”.
Link
You geezer Malcolm, what are you like! Malcolm Doughty’s actions are without doubt legally and morally reprehensible. What compounds his irresponsible attitude to the safety of his fellow drivers and pedestrians is his unrepentant boasting of his actions on what is more or less a public forum.
Asians are ‘Pakis’ and Jews are ‘Kikes’, especially if they run The Stirrer
Referring to Adrian Goldberg as a ‘kike’ over his article for The Stirrer on a Birmingham BNP meeting held earlier on in the year, Malcolm Doughty makes the following racist statement:
“NOT REDS! just paki youths wound up by a kike reporter!”
Link
So, Malcolm Doughty is quite clear on his racial taxonomies: Asians are ‘pakis’ and Jews are ‘kikes’. Hmmm...sounds like unreconstructed racism and anti-Semitism to me. But, then again this is a BNP member and is to be expected.
Criticism of senior BNP officials
Malcolm Doughty doesn’t hold back in his vocal criticism of senior BNP officials such as Mark Collett, Dave Hannam and Simon Darby, dubbing them as “lazy gits just enjoy the publicity and self-promotion”.
Link
He even goes to the extent of singling out Simon Darby for blame over what he considers to be Adrian Goldberg’s adverse article on the Birmingham BNP meeting.
Link
Bigmal has a big mouth
Mechanic by day, Aryan jihadi by night, Malcolm Doughty isn’t the brightest bean in the BNP crowd, quite evident from his above comments and statements. His obtuse racism and politics is plain for all to see. But, perhaps in his little hermetically-sealed BNP world it all makes sense for Malcolm Doughty. It always does. One thing is quite clear though: Bigmal has a big mouth, otherwise we wouldn’t be writing about him! ¡No Pasarán!
Labels:
Bigmal,
Birmingham,
BNP,
Kings Norton,
Malcolm Doughty
May 22, 2008
Church event scrapped due to BNP links
An annual church fund-raising event in Clarborough has been cancelled because of the host's association with a right wing political party.David Otter, a British National Party (BNP) candidate in recent local elections, says his membership of the party means the popular village event has been scrapped.
He has hosted the church fund-raising barbecue at his Hayton home for the last 20 years generating thousands for charities and the village's St Peter's Church.
"I and many other people are flabbergasted by this," he said. "We had organised a date for the barbeque and then I received a call to tell me they could not find enough people to run it, which I found very odd. It was playing on my mind so I rang back and asked if it was anything to do about my membership of the BNP and, after a pause, they said 'yes'."
Hayton Church's Rev Mark Cantrill, who has spoken to Mr Otter about the decision, says it was made at a specially-convened meeting of the Parochial Church Council (PCC).
"(The decision to cancel) was due to limited numbers of people available to staff the event and provide the necessary resources and transport," he explained. "The PCC also noted Mr Otter had recently stood as a BNP candidate, which raised the issue of the relationship between the policies of the BNP and Christian teaching, which is to be explored and considered further."
Rev Cantrill said his concerns are supported by the Church of England's General Synod which passed a motion in 2004 after the performance of the BNP in local elections in parts of Lancashire.
"It stated: 'any political movement that seeks to divide our communities on the basis of ethnicity is an affront to the nature of God... and is a grave danger to harmonious community relationships; consequently voting for and/or supporting a political party that offers racist policies is incompatible with Christian discipleship'," he added.
Mr Otter, who insisted he is not a racist, said he was 'nearly heartbroken' by the decision.
"I joined the BNP because the Conservative Party had drifted too far to the left," he added.
Retford Times
He has hosted the church fund-raising barbecue at his Hayton home for the last 20 years generating thousands for charities and the village's St Peter's Church.
"I and many other people are flabbergasted by this," he said. "We had organised a date for the barbeque and then I received a call to tell me they could not find enough people to run it, which I found very odd. It was playing on my mind so I rang back and asked if it was anything to do about my membership of the BNP and, after a pause, they said 'yes'."
Hayton Church's Rev Mark Cantrill, who has spoken to Mr Otter about the decision, says it was made at a specially-convened meeting of the Parochial Church Council (PCC).
"(The decision to cancel) was due to limited numbers of people available to staff the event and provide the necessary resources and transport," he explained. "The PCC also noted Mr Otter had recently stood as a BNP candidate, which raised the issue of the relationship between the policies of the BNP and Christian teaching, which is to be explored and considered further."
Rev Cantrill said his concerns are supported by the Church of England's General Synod which passed a motion in 2004 after the performance of the BNP in local elections in parts of Lancashire.
"It stated: 'any political movement that seeks to divide our communities on the basis of ethnicity is an affront to the nature of God... and is a grave danger to harmonious community relationships; consequently voting for and/or supporting a political party that offers racist policies is incompatible with Christian discipleship'," he added.
Mr Otter, who insisted he is not a racist, said he was 'nearly heartbroken' by the decision.
"I joined the BNP because the Conservative Party had drifted too far to the left," he added.
Retford Times
Labels:
BNP,
David Otter,
General Synod,
Hayton
BNP in new B&D homes row
The British National Party is at the centre of a housing row after voting against the first phase of a massive 600-home development.
Barking and Dagenham Council leader Cllr Charles Fairbrass criticised the far-right party during last week's assembly meeting for registering its opposition to the development at Lymington Fields, Lymington Road, Dagenham. The project, spearheaded by regeneration group English Partnerships, moved a step closer when a majority of Labour councillors endorsed plans for the first 319 houses and flats last week.
Cllr Fairbrass, leader of the Labour group on the council, maintained the BNP opposition showed a lack of logic after one of its members, Cllr Richard Barnbrook, previously pledged more affordable homes for Barking and Dagenham.
Cllr Fairbrass said: "They voted against it. They also voted against Barking Riverside, where 4,300 affordable homes will be built. They will be social rented homes. That's the problem, they keep voting against them. There's no logic to it. That's as simple as that."
BNP group leader Cllr Bob Bailey and fellow Cllr Lawrence Rustem joined in opposing the plans, which features 179 homes for key workers like nurses, teachers and firemen, and a new primary school. Cllr Bailey feared the properties may not be allocated to local people.
He said: "Half the people who get these homes are not key workers. When they start building for local people we will take them seriously."
English Partnerships hailed the regeneration project, saying it would deliver one to five bedroom properties for residents. Steve Oakes, regional director of English Partnerships, said: "We're all delighted that the proposals for Lymington Fields have been given the go-ahead. It's a first class scheme with a great balance of private and affordable homes, which will include London-Wide Initiative homes for key workers and new homes for local people, with lots of outside space for families."
London-Wide Initiative, a government-backed scheme launched in 2003 by English Partnerships, enables key workers to buy their own homes.
Barking and Dagenham Recorder
Barking and Dagenham Council leader Cllr Charles Fairbrass criticised the far-right party during last week's assembly meeting for registering its opposition to the development at Lymington Fields, Lymington Road, Dagenham. The project, spearheaded by regeneration group English Partnerships, moved a step closer when a majority of Labour councillors endorsed plans for the first 319 houses and flats last week.
Cllr Fairbrass, leader of the Labour group on the council, maintained the BNP opposition showed a lack of logic after one of its members, Cllr Richard Barnbrook, previously pledged more affordable homes for Barking and Dagenham.
Cllr Fairbrass said: "They voted against it. They also voted against Barking Riverside, where 4,300 affordable homes will be built. They will be social rented homes. That's the problem, they keep voting against them. There's no logic to it. That's as simple as that."
BNP group leader Cllr Bob Bailey and fellow Cllr Lawrence Rustem joined in opposing the plans, which features 179 homes for key workers like nurses, teachers and firemen, and a new primary school. Cllr Bailey feared the properties may not be allocated to local people.
He said: "Half the people who get these homes are not key workers. When they start building for local people we will take them seriously."
English Partnerships hailed the regeneration project, saying it would deliver one to five bedroom properties for residents. Steve Oakes, regional director of English Partnerships, said: "We're all delighted that the proposals for Lymington Fields have been given the go-ahead. It's a first class scheme with a great balance of private and affordable homes, which will include London-Wide Initiative homes for key workers and new homes for local people, with lots of outside space for families."
London-Wide Initiative, a government-backed scheme launched in 2003 by English Partnerships, enables key workers to buy their own homes.
Barking and Dagenham Recorder
Clergyman's concern over far right party
A leading South Yorkshire clergyman has told of his concern following the election of the region's first British National Party councillors.
Archdeacon Richard Blackburn says community relations and social cohesion could be at risk after the success of the far-right organisation in the local elections.
John Gamble snatched a seat for the BNP on Rotherham Council in Brinsworth, by 61 votes, beating the town's Labour Mayor Allan Jackson. And the party scored a second success in Maltby, where shopkeeper Will Blair beat sitting Labour member Glyn Robinson by just 18 votes. The BNP also finished second in some wards in Sheffield.
Speaking at Rotherham's annual civic service, Archdeacon Blackburn said people probably voted the way they did because they felt they were not being listened to elsewhere. He said: "The BNP often finds support in the context of significant problems, where people feel that no one is listening to them. Some of the results have provided a sobering wake-up call for all of us who care about democracy and the way in which our councillors are elected. The arrival of the British National Party on our scene and into our council chamber is a concern."
Archdeacon Blackburn said it was necessary to make it absolutely clear that the far-right party did not advocate Christian policies, whatever their literature might say.
"The BNP has traditionally presented its election message as 'Christian' and some of its election literature claims they promote 'traditional Christian values'. However, its policies and practices, which promote racism and racial intolerance, are incompatible with the church's social witness, biblical teaching and our understanding of the love of God for all people," he added.
The Archdeacon went on to say that good community relations and social cohesion relied on people exhibiting understanding and tolerance.
"I wish to publicly affirm our care, as the Church of England, for our Muslim sisters and brothers. We are determined to keep working with them in Rotherham and throughout our Diocese in South Yorkshire to develop communities, which build on our common belief in God's concern for all humanity. I deplore insults to any religion as well as actions and words which offend deeply held beliefs. As a Christian, I offer respect for the faith of others. And I call upon everyone of good will to work together for peace."
The Star
Archdeacon Richard Blackburn says community relations and social cohesion could be at risk after the success of the far-right organisation in the local elections.
John Gamble snatched a seat for the BNP on Rotherham Council in Brinsworth, by 61 votes, beating the town's Labour Mayor Allan Jackson. And the party scored a second success in Maltby, where shopkeeper Will Blair beat sitting Labour member Glyn Robinson by just 18 votes. The BNP also finished second in some wards in Sheffield.
Speaking at Rotherham's annual civic service, Archdeacon Blackburn said people probably voted the way they did because they felt they were not being listened to elsewhere. He said: "The BNP often finds support in the context of significant problems, where people feel that no one is listening to them. Some of the results have provided a sobering wake-up call for all of us who care about democracy and the way in which our councillors are elected. The arrival of the British National Party on our scene and into our council chamber is a concern."
Archdeacon Blackburn said it was necessary to make it absolutely clear that the far-right party did not advocate Christian policies, whatever their literature might say.
"The BNP has traditionally presented its election message as 'Christian' and some of its election literature claims they promote 'traditional Christian values'. However, its policies and practices, which promote racism and racial intolerance, are incompatible with the church's social witness, biblical teaching and our understanding of the love of God for all people," he added.
The Archdeacon went on to say that good community relations and social cohesion relied on people exhibiting understanding and tolerance.
"I wish to publicly affirm our care, as the Church of England, for our Muslim sisters and brothers. We are determined to keep working with them in Rotherham and throughout our Diocese in South Yorkshire to develop communities, which build on our common belief in God's concern for all humanity. I deplore insults to any religion as well as actions and words which offend deeply held beliefs. As a Christian, I offer respect for the faith of others. And I call upon everyone of good will to work together for peace."
The Star
Labels:
BNP,
Brinsworth,
John Gamble,
Richard Blackburn,
Will Blair
May 21, 2008
Disquiet in the BNP over a strange invitation
Some longstanding members of the BNP have been asking why Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, took time out from the election campaign only three days before polling day to attend a secret meeting in London with three leading European extremist politicians, one of whom has a recent conviction for Holocaust denial.
Initially billed as a press conference, its true purpose seems to have been to further Griffin’s ambition to become a Member of the European Parliament by building links with far-right MEPs.
The meeting had been organised by Arthur Kemp, the former agent for the South African apartheid regime and now keeper of the BNP’s ideological Holy Grail. Making the arrangements on behalf of the visitors was Georg Mayer, a senior officer in the Austrian Freedom Party. Mayer had also acted as the spokesperson for the short-lived Identity Tradition Sovereignty (ITS) group in the European Parliament until its collapse late last year when five ultra-nationalist Romanian MEPs walked out in protest at anti-Romanian remarks by their Italian colleague Alessandra Mussolini, the dictator’s granddaughter.
Their ill-conceived plan was to send out invitations to the media to attend the press conference only a short time in advance. Initially three MEPs were down to attend, then fairly late in the day Marie-Rose Morel, a member of the Flemish Parliament for the extreme-right Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) and former Flemish beauty queen, said she would come along too.
The star guests were to be Bruno Gollnisch, a French MEP and vice president of the far-right National Front, and Andreas Mölzer, an Austrian MEP and leading member of the Austrian Freedom Party.
Their presence revealed the true face of the BNP and confirmed Griffin’s continued failure to break away from Holocaust denial and antisemitism. In January 2007 a French court handed Gollnisch a three-month suspended prison sentence and fined him €5,000 (£4,000) for denying the Holocaust. The court in Lyon found he had “disputed a crime against humanity” in remarks he made during a news conference in the city in October 2004.
Gollnisch, who was chair of the ITS group, had questioned the number of Jews who died in the Holocaust and said the “existence of the gas chambers is for historians to discuss”.
Mölzer is the publisher of Zur Zeit, an Austrian political magazine in which racism, antisemitism and xenophobia are staple features. Its recent promotion of openly Nazi and antisemitic books prompted the Berlin weekly Junge Freiheit, on which Zur Zeit was originally modelled, to sever all connections. All that did not stop Griffin giving an interview to Zur Zeit earlier this year, in which he assured Mölzer of his firm belief in “nationalist cooperation” to deal with the “Islamic threat” and “the tide of Third World immigration” and to oppose the entry of Turkey into the EU.
The third MEP who was due to come was Philip Claeys, a VB MEP who was the vice-chair of the ITS. He did not want to show his face at the press conference but was keen to join a private meeting.
Claeys had previous links with the British far right. In May 2005 he addressed a conference organised by Right Now!, a now-defunct magazine that claimed to be the “voice of the patriotic and conservative Right”. It was Right Now! that hosted a column by Nick Eriksen, who at the beginning of April was forced to stand down as number two on the BNP’s list of candidates for the London Assembly to save the BNP from further bad publicity over his despicable views on rape expressed on his blog.
Writing in Right Now! under the name “John Bull” Eriksen maintained that voting BNP represents the “only solution” to remedy the current malaise in Conservative politics. BNP members regularly attended the magazine’s conferences and no doubt listened avidly to Claeys railing against Islam in general and Turkey in particular.
Arrangements for the press conference were proceeding in secret, though not without Searchlight’s knowledge through one of our main moles in the BNP hierarchy. What puzzled us was why, at a time when the BNP was trying to shed its antisemitic image in a bid to win Jewish votes, the party leadership should want to parade a bunch of Holocaust deniers before the media.
But Kemp had made a fatal mistake, possibly intentionally, in his choice of Jason Douglas to pick up the guests from the station in his black cab. This decision had also surprised some party members who know what a loose tongue Douglas has. Douglas, a convicted football hooligan, runs three BNP groups in east London.
The BNP had been attempting to play on what it sees as historic enmity between the Jewish and Muslim communities. But Jewish organisations had denounced the BNP’s advances and were giving strong support to calls by the HOPE not hate campaign for a high turnout of Jewish voters against the BNP in the London and other local elections.
Then suddenly despite weeks of secrecy, Simon Darby, the BNP’s press officer and deputy leader, used his blog to announce on 24 April that the party was “honoured to be playing host to a special press conference to be held on the afternoon of Monday 28th April 2008” with “a number of guests from allied Parties from Europe”. He even named Gollnisch and Mölzer.
Had Darby boobed? Two days later the BNP had pulled the plug on the press conference, with Darby lamely declaring: “It looks like we’ve lost the venue, but our foreign friends have been most understanding about this.”
Searchlight was unconvinced, believing this to be a smokescreen to cover up Darby’s breach of security in publicising the event so far in advance. Other senior figures in the BNP then tried to reinforce the claim that the meeting was off.
Sure enough, in the early afternoon of 28 April, Gollnisch, Mölzer and Mayer arrived at St Pancras International station on the Eurostar and were whisked off, not to a press conference but to a private meeting with Griffin. They were two short. Claeys, already nervous, had pulled out as had Morel, so it was just the beasts without the beauty.
Searchlight later tracked down the visitors at the plush Rembrandt Hotel in South Kensington where they were staying. By that time, Griffin had already sped off into the night.
The hotel confirmed the three men’s presence and a Searchlight reporter had an illuminating telephone conversation with Mayer before he caught the 8.05am Eurostar back home the next morning.
So what was Griffin playing at? Is he so consumed with his desire to join these latter-day fascists in the European Parliament next year that he did not care what damage exposure of such a meeting might have done to the electoral chances of Richard Barnbrook, the BNP’s lead candidate for the London Assembly? Such selfishness would be typical of Griffin.
Some senior and very angry BNP officers think the whole thing was set up by the intelligence services to discredit the party on the eve of the election. Perhaps that is something Colin Auty, who is challenging Griffin for the party leadership, might like to investigate.
One thing we can be sure about is the sort of disgusting company Griffin intends to keep if ever he does manage to make it to the European Parliament.
Searchlight
Initially billed as a press conference, its true purpose seems to have been to further Griffin’s ambition to become a Member of the European Parliament by building links with far-right MEPs.
The meeting had been organised by Arthur Kemp, the former agent for the South African apartheid regime and now keeper of the BNP’s ideological Holy Grail. Making the arrangements on behalf of the visitors was Georg Mayer, a senior officer in the Austrian Freedom Party. Mayer had also acted as the spokesperson for the short-lived Identity Tradition Sovereignty (ITS) group in the European Parliament until its collapse late last year when five ultra-nationalist Romanian MEPs walked out in protest at anti-Romanian remarks by their Italian colleague Alessandra Mussolini, the dictator’s granddaughter.
Their ill-conceived plan was to send out invitations to the media to attend the press conference only a short time in advance. Initially three MEPs were down to attend, then fairly late in the day Marie-Rose Morel, a member of the Flemish Parliament for the extreme-right Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) and former Flemish beauty queen, said she would come along too.
The star guests were to be Bruno Gollnisch, a French MEP and vice president of the far-right National Front, and Andreas Mölzer, an Austrian MEP and leading member of the Austrian Freedom Party.
Their presence revealed the true face of the BNP and confirmed Griffin’s continued failure to break away from Holocaust denial and antisemitism. In January 2007 a French court handed Gollnisch a three-month suspended prison sentence and fined him €5,000 (£4,000) for denying the Holocaust. The court in Lyon found he had “disputed a crime against humanity” in remarks he made during a news conference in the city in October 2004.
Gollnisch, who was chair of the ITS group, had questioned the number of Jews who died in the Holocaust and said the “existence of the gas chambers is for historians to discuss”.
Mölzer is the publisher of Zur Zeit, an Austrian political magazine in which racism, antisemitism and xenophobia are staple features. Its recent promotion of openly Nazi and antisemitic books prompted the Berlin weekly Junge Freiheit, on which Zur Zeit was originally modelled, to sever all connections. All that did not stop Griffin giving an interview to Zur Zeit earlier this year, in which he assured Mölzer of his firm belief in “nationalist cooperation” to deal with the “Islamic threat” and “the tide of Third World immigration” and to oppose the entry of Turkey into the EU.
The third MEP who was due to come was Philip Claeys, a VB MEP who was the vice-chair of the ITS. He did not want to show his face at the press conference but was keen to join a private meeting.
Claeys had previous links with the British far right. In May 2005 he addressed a conference organised by Right Now!, a now-defunct magazine that claimed to be the “voice of the patriotic and conservative Right”. It was Right Now! that hosted a column by Nick Eriksen, who at the beginning of April was forced to stand down as number two on the BNP’s list of candidates for the London Assembly to save the BNP from further bad publicity over his despicable views on rape expressed on his blog.
Writing in Right Now! under the name “John Bull” Eriksen maintained that voting BNP represents the “only solution” to remedy the current malaise in Conservative politics. BNP members regularly attended the magazine’s conferences and no doubt listened avidly to Claeys railing against Islam in general and Turkey in particular.
Arrangements for the press conference were proceeding in secret, though not without Searchlight’s knowledge through one of our main moles in the BNP hierarchy. What puzzled us was why, at a time when the BNP was trying to shed its antisemitic image in a bid to win Jewish votes, the party leadership should want to parade a bunch of Holocaust deniers before the media.
But Kemp had made a fatal mistake, possibly intentionally, in his choice of Jason Douglas to pick up the guests from the station in his black cab. This decision had also surprised some party members who know what a loose tongue Douglas has. Douglas, a convicted football hooligan, runs three BNP groups in east London.
The BNP had been attempting to play on what it sees as historic enmity between the Jewish and Muslim communities. But Jewish organisations had denounced the BNP’s advances and were giving strong support to calls by the HOPE not hate campaign for a high turnout of Jewish voters against the BNP in the London and other local elections.
Then suddenly despite weeks of secrecy, Simon Darby, the BNP’s press officer and deputy leader, used his blog to announce on 24 April that the party was “honoured to be playing host to a special press conference to be held on the afternoon of Monday 28th April 2008” with “a number of guests from allied Parties from Europe”. He even named Gollnisch and Mölzer.
Had Darby boobed? Two days later the BNP had pulled the plug on the press conference, with Darby lamely declaring: “It looks like we’ve lost the venue, but our foreign friends have been most understanding about this.”
Searchlight was unconvinced, believing this to be a smokescreen to cover up Darby’s breach of security in publicising the event so far in advance. Other senior figures in the BNP then tried to reinforce the claim that the meeting was off.
Sure enough, in the early afternoon of 28 April, Gollnisch, Mölzer and Mayer arrived at St Pancras International station on the Eurostar and were whisked off, not to a press conference but to a private meeting with Griffin. They were two short. Claeys, already nervous, had pulled out as had Morel, so it was just the beasts without the beauty.
Searchlight later tracked down the visitors at the plush Rembrandt Hotel in South Kensington where they were staying. By that time, Griffin had already sped off into the night.
The hotel confirmed the three men’s presence and a Searchlight reporter had an illuminating telephone conversation with Mayer before he caught the 8.05am Eurostar back home the next morning.
So what was Griffin playing at? Is he so consumed with his desire to join these latter-day fascists in the European Parliament next year that he did not care what damage exposure of such a meeting might have done to the electoral chances of Richard Barnbrook, the BNP’s lead candidate for the London Assembly? Such selfishness would be typical of Griffin.
Some senior and very angry BNP officers think the whole thing was set up by the intelligence services to discredit the party on the eve of the election. Perhaps that is something Colin Auty, who is challenging Griffin for the party leadership, might like to investigate.
One thing we can be sure about is the sort of disgusting company Griffin intends to keep if ever he does manage to make it to the European Parliament.
Searchlight
Labels:
Arthur Kemp,
BNP,
Bruno Gollnisch,
Georg Mayer,
holocaust denial,
ITS,
Nick Griffin
Nazi 'Dr Death' may be in Chile
The most wanted Nazi war criminal still thought to be alive, Dr Aribert Heim, is likely hiding in southern Chile's Patagonia region, leading Nazi-hunter Efraim Zuroff said today.
Heim, nicknamed Dr Death for killing hundreds of inmates at Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria with injections of petrol or poison direct to the heart, has been on the run for 46 years since evading police in Germany in 1962 prior to a planned prosecution.
An Austrian doctor with Adolf Hitler's dreaded police unit, the SS, Heim removed organs from victims without anesthetic. He even kept the skull of one man he decapitated as a paperweight. Heim would be 93, though his family claims he died in 1993.
Mr Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Jerusalem who has tracked down dozens of fugitive Nazis over nearly three decades, believes he has narrowed his search.
"Chile is one of the more likely possibilities," he said from Jerusalem.
"Part of the reason for the interest in Chile is the presence of his daughter, who lives in Puerto Montt. He may be in Patagonia, but at this point there's nothing definitive," he said, listing Argentina and Brazil as other possibilities.
Puerto Montt, 1058km south of the capital, Santiago, is the gateway to Chile's remote, picturesque Patagonia region of glacial lakes, towering snowcapped peaks and volcanoes that are a magnet for adventure tourism. Hundreds of Nazis sought refuge in Latin America after World War II, many lured to Argentina thanks to the open-door policies of General Juan Domingo Peron, who had fascist sympathies, as well as to Chile and Brazil. Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death at Auschwitz, escaped to Argentina and also lived in Paraguay before he died in Brazil in 1979.
Mr Zuroff said Heim has kept on the move in recent years, and sees his capture as the ultimate prize of the world's remaining fugitive Nazis. He thought he had located Heim in Chile in August, but it turned out to be a false alarm.
"He is the most important war criminal most likely to be alive," Mr Zuroff said. "He murdered .... tortured hundreds of inmates, he used body parts for experiments. In that respect you could say he's a symbol of the Nazi's perversion of science, of medicine."
Holocaust survivors remember Heim relishing seeing the fear of death in the eyes of his victims. After administering lethal injections, he would time death with a stopwatch.
At age 93, the time to catch Heim is running out.
"Our fear is that one of the worst criminals of the Holocaust, a person who personally murdered hundreds of innocent people, will have eluded justice," Mr Zuroff said. "This is something that will only encourage future genocide and mass murderers, and something which we find to be a travesty of justice."
News.com
Heim, nicknamed Dr Death for killing hundreds of inmates at Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria with injections of petrol or poison direct to the heart, has been on the run for 46 years since evading police in Germany in 1962 prior to a planned prosecution.
An Austrian doctor with Adolf Hitler's dreaded police unit, the SS, Heim removed organs from victims without anesthetic. He even kept the skull of one man he decapitated as a paperweight. Heim would be 93, though his family claims he died in 1993.
Mr Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Jerusalem who has tracked down dozens of fugitive Nazis over nearly three decades, believes he has narrowed his search.
"Chile is one of the more likely possibilities," he said from Jerusalem.
"Part of the reason for the interest in Chile is the presence of his daughter, who lives in Puerto Montt. He may be in Patagonia, but at this point there's nothing definitive," he said, listing Argentina and Brazil as other possibilities.
Puerto Montt, 1058km south of the capital, Santiago, is the gateway to Chile's remote, picturesque Patagonia region of glacial lakes, towering snowcapped peaks and volcanoes that are a magnet for adventure tourism. Hundreds of Nazis sought refuge in Latin America after World War II, many lured to Argentina thanks to the open-door policies of General Juan Domingo Peron, who had fascist sympathies, as well as to Chile and Brazil. Josef Mengele, the Angel of Death at Auschwitz, escaped to Argentina and also lived in Paraguay before he died in Brazil in 1979.
Mr Zuroff said Heim has kept on the move in recent years, and sees his capture as the ultimate prize of the world's remaining fugitive Nazis. He thought he had located Heim in Chile in August, but it turned out to be a false alarm.
"He is the most important war criminal most likely to be alive," Mr Zuroff said. "He murdered .... tortured hundreds of inmates, he used body parts for experiments. In that respect you could say he's a symbol of the Nazi's perversion of science, of medicine."
Holocaust survivors remember Heim relishing seeing the fear of death in the eyes of his victims. After administering lethal injections, he would time death with a stopwatch.
At age 93, the time to catch Heim is running out.
"Our fear is that one of the worst criminals of the Holocaust, a person who personally murdered hundreds of innocent people, will have eluded justice," Mr Zuroff said. "This is something that will only encourage future genocide and mass murderers, and something which we find to be a travesty of justice."
News.com
Labels:
Dr Aribert Heim,
Holocaust,
Mauthausen,
nazi,
Simon Wiesenthal Centre,
SS
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